The free event begins at 7 p.m. at Mountain View High School auditorium, 2000 Millennium Way in Meridian.

Ignite was originally started by a Seattle-based marketing company as a venue for people to share their ideas with others. Each speaker talked for five minutes and used exactly 20 PowerPoint slides to convey their message.

The Meridian Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council started a local high school version of the event to give students the opportunity to share their passions, concerns and ideas with an audience of their peers and members of the community.

Last year, competitors presented their ideas on everything from suicide prevention to being prepared for a Zombie Apocalypse. Eli Nary of Rocky Mountain High School, presented the winning talk, a thought-provoking piece on racism.